11240, 11237 &11242
IARI, Ph.D Scholars
Division of Entomology
New Delhi-110012
Welcome
EcosystemServices ProvidedBy Pollinators AndTheir Crisis
Credit seminar on

Contents
Introduction
History
Ecosystem services
Pollinators and their role
Causes for pollinator decline
Case studies
Summary
Conclusion and Future prospects

Ecosystem
Ecosystem services
pollinators
Introduction

Ecosystem services???
A wide range of conditions and processes through
which natural ecosystems and the species that are part
of them, help sustain and fulfill human life (Daily et al.,
1997)
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits
that humans freely gain from the natural environment
and from properly-functioning ecosystems.
“The benefits people obtain from ecosystems”

Modern history of ecosystem services
 1970-1980s/ origin and early development
 Silent spring by Carson (1962)
 Functions of nature “as farming ecological concerns in
economic terms to stress societal dependence on natural
resources”
 “Natural capital” by Schmacher (1973)
 “Ecosystem services” by Westman (1977)
 “Concept of ES” firstly defined by Ehrlich and Ehrlich
(1981)


Animals that transfer pollen from the anthers to the stigma of a
flower, enabling the flower to set seed and fruit (fertilization) and,
through cross-fertilization, they play an important role in
maintaining plant diversity
Eg., Bees, flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, thrips
Vertebrate pollinators: bats, non-flying mammals (monkey, lemur,
rodents, tree squirrel, coati, olingo and kinkajou) and birds
(humming birds, sunbirds, honeycreepers and parrot)
Two basic types of pollination :
Abiotic pollination and Biotic pollination
 Abiotic pollination
 Anemophily:
 Hydrophily:
Pollinators

 Cross pollination aided by
 Bees (Honeybees, bumble bees,orchid bees, etc) - Melittophily
 Hawk moths - Sphingophily
 Small moths - Phalaenophily
 Flies (Syrphid flies) - Myophily
 Butterflies -Psychophily
 Beetles - Cantharophily
 Ants - Myrmecophily
 Wasp - Sphecophily
 Carrion fly - Saprophily
 Bats - Chiropterophily
 Snails and slugs - Melacophily
 Birds - Ornithophily
Biotic pollination

Pollinator insects
Allotrophous:visit flowers
but donot play any part
in pollination
Thrips
Ants
Eutrophous:
important role in
pollination
Hemitrophous:visit
flowers & participate in
pollination to some extent
Syrphids
Honey bee
Sphingids

 85% are flowering plants
 Crops: Fruits and nuts, Vegetable and Vegetable seed crops,
Oil seed crops & Forage seed crops
 Globally animal pollination supports 2/3rd of crops &
constitute 1/3rd of human diet
 It is estimated that 5-8 per cent of current global crop
production, with an annual market value of US$ 235 billion
- 577 billion (in 2015) worldwide,
(Klein et al., 2007: Nicholson & Ricketts, 2019)
Important:
Quality and Quantity
Seed production and Viability
Genetic diversity
Why pollination is important?

(McGregor ,1976 & Buchmann and Nabhan ,1997)

Crops benefited by bee pollination in India
Fruits and nuts Almond, apple, apricot, peach,
strawberry, citrus and litchi
Vegetable and Vegetable seed
crops
Cabbage, cauliflower, carrot,
coriander, cucumber, melon,
onion, pumpkin, radish and
turnip
Oil seed crops Sunflower, niger, rape seed,
mustard, safflower, gingelly
Forage seed crops Lucerne, clover
(TNAU, agritech portal)

No Pollinator – No plant :
 In order for most plants to make seeds, pollen from one plant must
be transferred to another plant. Butterflies, bees and other insects
often suck sweet nectar from flowers for food and pick up pollen as
they do so.
 Strawberry, apples and oilseed rape – Bees, bumble and solitary
bee
 Symbiosis of Yucca Moths (Tegeticula spp.) & Yucca Plant Trees
 The fig provides a home for the fig wasp and the wasp provides the
pollen that the fruit needs to ripen - Caprification
 Lucern crop - Tripping

Pollinators???
Managed pollinators
Apis mellifera Apis cerana indica

Honey bee products and their uses

Pollinators???...
Wild pollinators
Humming birds Bats
Moths
Butterflies
Bumblebees
Wild bees (Apis sp.)

Different pollinators which play vital role
in pollination
POLLINATORS %CONTRIBUTION
Bees 73%
Flies 19%
Bats 6.5%
Wasps 5%
Beetles 5%
Birds 4%
Butterflies 4%
(Abrol, 2009)

Number of genera and species in six families of bees in India.
(Source: Ascher and Pickering, 2010; Gupta, 2010; Saini and Rathor, 2012)

Crop/
Commodity
Crop product
value
(crores)
Economic value
of pollination
(crores)
Increase due to
animal
pollination (%)
Cereals 365 793.00 0.00 0.00
Oilseeds 129 143.00 43 993.08 34.07
Fruits 129 030.05 17 142.27 13.29
Vegetables 175 777.81 1 9498.20 11.09
Fibers 73 917.05 17 290.66 23.39
Condiments and
spices
39 684.57 10 121.19 25.47
Pulses 67 574.00 1 236.13 1.83
(Modified from Chaudhary and Chand, 2017)
Economic value of animal pollination
services to Indian agriculture

Role of pollinators beyond agriculture
Pollinators enhance the reproduction and genetic
diversity of 80% of the plant species.
>50% plant species - self-incompatible or dioecious
Eg: mangroves which is an obligate out breeder
(Mukherjee et al., 2014)

 China: Hand pollination in China (Maoxian county in Hengduan
Mountains of China) – e.g. apples and pears.
 Provides employment & income generating opportunities to many
people during apple flowering season.
 Expensive, time consuming and highly unsustainable option for
crop pollination due to increasing labour scarcity and costs.
 A large part of farmers’ income is used in managing pollination of
their crop.
 Bee-keepers do not rent out their hives, even during the flowering
season, due to excessive use of pesticides India
 Bees (Apis cerana or A. mellifera) used in India (Himachal Pradesh
in NW Himalayas) for apple pollination: fees for renting bee
colonies Indian rupees 800/- (US$ 16) per colony for two weeks.
(Partap, 98).

 A pilot project -- Madhu Sandesh -- initiated by association of
pesticide firms Crop Life India, ICAR and Agriculture
Development Trusts (KVK), Baramati, in November 2015
 The success stories of pomegranate growers and onion seed
producers associated with this project have encouraged many
farmers in Baramati to pollinate their crops using honeybees and
harvest better yield.
 In fact, they are now willing to pay more for honeybee hives.
 Pomegranate grower from Daund village, D D Baravkar, who
has received training under the project, said: "Pomegranate
yields have almost doubled after the crops were pollinated by
bees. Even the quality of fruit has improved to an extent that
there is more demand from exporters."
Honeybee hives in great demand for pollination in Baramati

 Four honeybee hives – three acres Anar + half acre onion
 The hive rent was Rs 1,500 for each bee hive. I have decided to
keep more hives but there is not much supply. I am even willing to
pay more for them," he said.
 Baravkar said that he harvested 7.5 tonnes pomegranate on three
acres this year as against 4 tonnes last year. Even the cost on
pesticide spray has come down.
 Another pomegranate farmer Mahesh Bhagat from Korhale Bk
village up to 12 tonnes from 7-8 tonnes from 2.5 acres.

 The pilot project started with 250 beehives supplied by Crop
Life India to Baramati KVK to support 150 pomegranate
growers and 34 onion seed producers, Baramati KVK Head
Scientist Syed Ali told PTI.
 "Making available more beehives is not a problem, but the
issue is about providing hands on training to farmers and
helping them to follow good management practices to ensure
beehives are kept in good hygienic conditions. For this, more
extension staff is required," Ali said. At present, only four
young professionals are travelling across 46 villages to help
farmers on beekeeping.

Global map of pollination service to direct crop market output in
terms of US$ per hectare of added production on a 5’ by 5’ latitude
longitude grid
Lautenbach et al. (2012)

Animal pollination plays a vital role as a regulating ecosystem
service in nature: Globally 90 % of wild flowering plants depend
on animal pollination
>3/4th of global food crops rely on animal pollination for yield
and/or quality: Pollinator dependent crops contribute to 35% of
global crop production volume
•Pollinators serve as spiritual symbols in many cultures.
Sacred passages about bees in all the worlds’
major religions highlight their significance
to human societies over millennia.
Value of Pollinators and Pollination

Value of honeybee pollination to crop
production
 US agriculture: US$ 14.6 billion (Rs.1034 billion) (Morse
& Calderone 2000)
 Canadian agriculture: CDN 1.2 billion (Rs.64 billion)
(Winston & Scott 1984)
 European agriculture: US$ 3 billion (Rs.212 billion)
(Williams, 1992)
 New Zealand agriculture: US$ 2.3 billion (Rs.162 billion)
(Matheson and Schrader, 1987)
 China agriculture: US$ 0.7 billion (Rs.49 billion)
(Partpap, U. 2002)

Determination of economic value of
Ecosystem Service
Types of economic values
 Direct use value- sales and consumption
 Indirect use value- pollination
 Option value- risk
 Nonuse value- right to exist
(FAO, 2006)

Determination of economic value of
pollination
 Economic value (EV)= Production x Price of commodity
 Economic Value of Pollination Service(EVP)= EV x DR
 DR- dependence ratio
 Vulnerability to pollinator decline = EVP/ EV
(Chaudhary and Chand, 2017)
(Gallai et al., 2009)

DR- dependence ratio…
Grouping of crops based on dependence on animal
pollination
Groups Range of yield reduction (%) without
flower visitors (pollinators)
Dependence rate (DR)
Klein et al., 2007 Eilers et al., 2011
(mean value)
Gallai and Vaissiere,
2009., Vaissiere et al.,
2011.
Essential 90-100 95 0.95
Great 40-90 65 0.65
Modest 10-40 25 0.25
Little 0-10 5 0.05
No increase 0 0 0

https://agmarknet.gov.in/
Sl
no. Crops
Dependenc
e on animal
pollination
Dependen
ce rate
Product
ion
(kg/ha)
Price(Rs
./kg) EV(Rs)
EVP
(Rs)
Vulnerab
ility to
pollinator
decline
1
Rice No increase 0 38480 28.4 1092832 0 0
2 Areca
nut Little 0.05 15890 256.19 4070859 203543 5
3
Okra Modest 0.25 118402 70 8288140 2072035 25
4
Apple Great 0.65 74262 100 7426200 4827030 65
5
Cocoa Essential 0.95 2289 155.8
356626.
2 338794.995
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC
vulnerability
Rice Arecanut Okra Apples Cocoa
https://www.indexmundi.com/

 Coffee production 11mha (world)
(Guadarrama et al., 2019)
Ecosystem services by birds and bees in
coffee ecosystem
Case study

• Intensification of coffee cultivation & its
effect on ES
Pollination by bees
Pest control by birds
Worldwide annual losses – US$500 million (Vega et al.,
2017)
 Market volatility
 Climate change
 Pest and diseases
CBB- Hypothenemus hampei
(Guadarrama et al., 2019)
Case study

Climate and
landscape patterns
Farm management
Pollination Pest management
Coffee production
(Guadarrama et al., 2019)

Fruit set in relation with pollinators and vertebrates
(Classen et al., 2014)
HOM SUN
SHA

Fruit weight in relation with pollinators and vertebrates
(Classen et al., 2014)

Herbivory and pollinator visitation rates in Arabica
coffee with different production systems
(Classen et al., 2014)

Khadi and village industries commission
Beekeeping plays a vital role in the livelihoods of the rural
communities in four dynamics;
(i) it is an income generating activity;
(ii) provides food and medicine - value of honey and
other hive products are invaluable;
(iii) it supports agricultural activities through cross
pollination and increase in yield of crops
(iv) it contributes to forest conservation
(No. FBI/Honey Mission /2017 -18)

Pollination service- as an industry

Honeybee populations in countries
( CBD, 2018)

(http://www.fao.org/faos
tat/en/#data/TP)
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Honey
honey import qty honey import value
honey export qty honey export value
International Trade of Honey

•A wealth of observational, empirical and modelling studies
worldwide pointed many drivers have affected, and are affecting,
wild and managed pollinators negatively
•Habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation
•Conventional intensive land management practices
•Climate change
•Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
Pollinators crisis/decline

• Phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a
colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few
nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen
Large-scale losses are not new to the beekeeping industry; since 1869:
May disease, in Colorado (Aikin, 1897)
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

Materials and Methods
•Florida and California: 13 apiaries owned by 11 different
beekeepers
• Colony strength and sample collection
• Physiological and morphological measures
•Macro-parasite and pathogen quantification
•Pathogen analyses
•Pesticide analyses
“Attempt to identify the potential cause(s) of CCD”

Results
Colony Strength
•CCD-affected apiaries contained 3.5 times the number of dead
colonies compared to control apiaries
•CCD apiaries contained 3.6 times more weak colonies compared to
control apiaries
Protein and mass, morphometric measurements
•No difference between control and CCD colonies
Disease
•6%of colonies from CCD apiaries had infections of chalkbrood
disease (Ascosphaera apis) and 8% had infections of European
foulbrood (Melissococcus pluton)
(VanEngelsdorp et al., 2009)

•55% of CCD colonies were infected with 3 or more viruses as
compared to 28% of control colonies
•34% of CCD colonies were found to be co-infected with both
Nosema species (N. apis & N ceraneae) as compared to 13% of
control colonies
• IAPV (Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus) was identified as highly
correlated to CCD
• Co-infection with both Nosema species was 2.6 times greater in
CCD colonies and colonies co-infected with 4 or more viruses were
3.7 times more frequent in CCD colonies

EFB (Melissococcus pluton) -
infected larvae
(A)Corn Yellow - CCD-affected
colonies were
(B) Beige yellow – healthy colony
(VanEngelsdorp et al., 2009)

Pesticide prevalence and residue levels
•50 different pesticide residues and their metabolites were found
in the 70 wax samples tested, 20 were found in the 18 pollen
(beebread) samples tested, 5 in the 24 brood sampled tested, and
28 in the 16 adult bees tested (chlorothalonil, amitraz metabolites,
and the coumaphos metabolite, chlorferone)
(VanEngelsdorp et al., 2009)

Conclusion
•CCD colonies had higher virus loads and were co-infected with a
greater number of disease agents than control colonies
•CCD colonies had higher pesticide residues
• Bees in CCD colonies had higher pathogen loads and were co-
infected with more pathogens than control populations
•No single pathogen or parasite was found with sufficient frequency
to conclude a single organism was involved in CCD, pathogens seem
likely to play a critical role
(VanEngelsdorp et al., 2009)

Effects of Neonicotinoid Insecticides on Bees
Neonicotinoid Insecticides:
•Introduced in the late 1980s
• Systemic mode of action
•Against sucking, chewing insects
(aphids, beetles, etc)
•Sprays, soil treatments, trunk
injections, or seed coatings
• Can be persistent over time in
plants and soil
• Less toxic to mammals than
some other insecticides

(The xerces society for invertebrate conservation)

Route of exposure to bees

Effects on Honey Bees
Acute lethal toxicity:
One dose of ~142+ppb
Chronic lethal toxicity:
Multiple doses of 20+
ppb
Sublethal effects:
Impaired memory,
activity, foraging,
ability to return to the
hive, increased
susceptibility to
pathogens
(Henry et al., 2012)

Reducing risk to bees from neonicotinoids
•Avoid application before or during bloom
•Use less toxic neonicotinoids: acetamiprid or thiacloprid
•Avoid treating plants with continuous blooms
•If you must treat, applications at planting had lower residue levels

Crops
%
pollination
dependency
Production
(kg/ha)
with
pollinators
service
Loss in
production
(kg/ha) @
100
%pollinato
r service
decline
Loss in
production
(kg/ha) @
50%
pollinator
service
decline
Loss in
production
(kg/ha ) @
25%
pollinator
service
decline
Rice
0
38480 0 0 9620
Arecanut
5
15890 794.5 397.25 198.625
Okra
25
118402 29600.5 14800.25 7400.125
Apples
65
74262 48270.3 24135.15 12067.58
Cocoa
95
2289 2174.55 1087.275 543.6375
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC
Impact of pollinators (Pollinators service) decline on crop
production
(Self analysis)

How to protect…..?????
•Three complementary strategies are envisaged for producing more
sustainable agriculture that address several important drivers of
pollinator decline
1. Ecological intensification: land, water, nutrient and biodiversity
2. Strengthening existing diverse farming systems: IFS, IPM, IDM
3.Investing in ecological infrastructure: fresh water, climate
regulation, disasters.
FAO, 2011

Bee garden @ Division of Entomology, IARI, New
Delhi

Summary
•Pollinators
•Types of pollinators
•Importance of pollinators
•Case studies
•Pollinators crisis

Conclusion
 Animal pollination plays a vital role as a regulating ecosystem
service in nature
 The importance of animal pollination varies substantially among
crops, and therefore among regional crop economies
 Pollinator-dependent food products are important contributors to
healthy human diets and nutrition
 A good quality of life for many people relies on ongoing roles of
pollinators

Future Prospects
 Development of new insecticide chemistries safer to
pollinators
Judicious use of pesticides
Creating awareness among people of about
importance of pollinators and its role
Provide a range of locally native flowering plant that
bloom throughout the growing season
Pollinators crisis should be top priority of concern

Please save “ME”
“If the bee disappeared off the globe then man
would only have four years of life left” – Einstein
No more bees, no more pollination, no more
plants, no more animals, no more Man.